Grenvie
by elementeria
Summary: Ben, Gwen, and Kevin get teleported to an alternate dimension. How will the team react in the new world and how will they aid the locals, or will the mission prove to be too much. Featuring Ben, Gwen, Kevin, and OCs
1. Chapter 1

Disclaimer: I do not own anything related to Ben 10. I do own anything related to Grenvie

Chapter One: Arrival

It was a nice sunny day in Bellwood as Ben, Gwen, and Kevin lounged against Kevin's car sipping their smoothies. It had been pretty quiet the past few days, leaving the three of them to enjoy their time together.

"Where's Julie this weekend?" Kevin asked Ben, tossing his empty cup into the trash bin.

"Tournament in L.A.," He replied, tossing his cup into the trash bin as he headed back towards the Smoothie Shack. "I'm gonna grab another one, anyone else want one? It's on me."

Kevin answered with a glare; Gwen sighed and playfully slapped his shoulder. "Pretty sure we're good." Ben shrugged and continued toward the shack. Right as Ben reached for the door, there was a blinding light and Ben, Gwen, and Kevin found themselves in the middle of forest.

"That was weird," Ben said looking around, disappointed that he wasn't able to get another smoothie.

"Where are we?" Gwen asked walking up to one of the trees, her eyes glowing pink as she tried to sense something familiar. "I can't get a read on anything." I don't ev-"

Gwen was cut off by a cry. Ben and Gwen turned towards Kevin, Gwen's hands glowing pink with manna and Ben scrolling through his Omnitrix, when he noticed that nothing was attacking, he lowered his arms and Gwen's manna disappeared and she rested her hands on her hips.

"What?" Kevin asked. "My ride isn't here! What if something happens to it? If anyone even thinks about tou-!"

"KEVIN!" Gwen yelled, catching his attention. "Don't you think there are more pressing issues to deal with right now?!"

"Like what?"

"Like figuring out where we are and how we got here!" Ben replied, surprising Gwen.

"But it's my ride," Kevin whined.

THUNK!

All three snapped to look at an arrow that was buried in the tree right behind Kevin. Gwen went into a battle stance with manna discs ready at each hand. Ben transformed into Big Chill and Kevin absorbed the wood from the tree.

"If we wanted you dead, you would be." A male voice said from the depths of the forest.

"Yea, why don't you come out and say that," Kevin taunted, itching to kick some butt.

Soft laughter could be heard from all around them. "Such insolence from one so young, your mouth will be the death of you one day," a female voice rang out.

"We are not here to fight," came another male voice. "Come brethren; let us figure this mystery out." The male stepped out from behind the tree. He had dark tan skin with light and dark streaks random throughout his skin to help mask him in with the trees. He has a bow slung over his shoulder.

There was a rustle thought the forest as more came into view, some stepping out from behind trees, boulders, and bushes, others were coming out of the tops of the trees, having taken cover from within the branches. Their skin was dark and light, helping them stay undetected within the forest and carrying a variety of weapons, from bow and arrows to swords to vine like whips.

"Who are you?" Spoke a woman walking forward with a sword in each hand. She came to a stop just behind the male.

Gwen powered down and Ben transformed back into himself. After catching a glare from Gwen, Kevin also powered down with an apologetic smile on his face. Ben stepped forward. "I'm Ben Tennyson, the wielder of the Omnitrix, the most powerful weapon in the universe. This is my cousin Gwen and friend Kevin. We are all Plumbers. Who are you?"

"I am Brutus, leader of the Rowans. This is Luis, my Second," he said indicating the female right behind him, she bowed to the three teens with her right arm across her chest. "From where do you hail?"

Ben looked back at Gwen with a questionable look on her face. "He's asking where we are from," she replied stepping forward. "We are from the planet Earth."

"Earth? I know not this planet Earth. How have you come to be here?"

"That we aren't sure," Gwen replied. "Whe-"

"What race of alien are you?" Ben cut Gwen off, wanting to get a DNA sample for his Omnitix.

Brutus shook his head. "We are not aliens, we are elves."

All three teens stared in disbelief. "Elves?' Kevin asked. "Where are the pointy ears? Why are you tall? Why do you have met—oof."

"Sorry about him," Gwen replied. "Where are we if we aren't on earth or in our universe?"

"Why this is Grenvie!" Brutus replied with great pride, all the elves striking their chests with their right fist. "Here we do not follow a wielder of an omnitrix, but our Kings and Queens, and of course, the Element Masters." He said, all the elves slightly bowed.

"Element Masters?" Ben asked. "Who are they?"

"The most powerful beings among us."


	2. Master's Battle

Disclaimer: I do not own Ben 10 or anything related to Ben 10.

The Trap

The elves started leading the three teens to their home city, Uretha. Gwen was bursting with questions, while Ben and Kevin quietly followed, both in their own worlds. "You mention Kings and Queens. How many do you have?" Gwen asked Brustus, however, Luis answered.

"We elves have one each, King Jos and Queen Amil, they govern us and no other race. The faes have Queen Teria, they don't follow males, only females. Queen Teria governs all faes. The dwarves follow only males and have King Orote to govern them. However, we do, or at least use to until just recently, lived in perfect peace working off of each races strengths to better the good of all. The kings and queens formed the Circle, where they all come together to work out what would be best for all as one. The Circle also includes the Element Masters, the Miners of Vast, and the Leaders of Rowan."

"Are you telling me this world has only elves, faes, and dwarves?" Kevin asked with an amused smirk

"Until just recently, yes. You lot make up the fourth humans to come upon our home. It was quite surprising to find out one of our mythical creatures turned out to be real."

"Tell me about it," Kevin murmured.

"Wait, you said that we make up the fourth," Gwen reasoned. "Who was the first?" She asked, feeling she already knew the answer.

"The Professor of Paradox; he appeared in the Room of Reckoning during a Circle meeting. Telling us that three humans would be arriving. He failed to mention, however, that one was a transformer, one a wielder of manna, and one absorber. That is why we have been dispatched. The Element Masters would have surely found you first, but they are dealing with a much more pressing issue and the Miners of Vast are stocking up on all ores for the battle."

"Whoa, whoa, whoa. Back up a little," Ben said crossing his arms across his chest. "Professor Paradox is involved with this?" He received a nod from Brutus. "You mentioned a battle, what battle?"

Brutus and Luis both sighed, "That is hard to explain." Brutus replied, looking to the ground. "Many things have happened in such a short time that the course of our very world hangs in the balance. Strange things have been happening here, Omnitrix Wielder. Many things that could be the end of us."

Gwen turned to Kevin. "Why wouldn't Paradox come to us? He always has before."

Kevin shrugged his shoulders. "When has Paradox ever done something that I understood?" He whispered back.

"Good point," Gwen murmured.

"What types of strange things?" Ben asked, trying to get as much information as possible.

"All questions shall be answered once we reach Uretha and you have the chance to speak with King Jos and Queen Amil," Luis responded.

The group stopped as loud booming sounds could be heard from the sky. "Rowans! To the trees!" Brutus ordered, the elves quickly following orders and disappearing among the trees. Brutus turned to the three teens, "Stay with me," he said as he climbed up into the branches. Gwen called upon manna stairs for the three of them to climb to the top of the tree, taking up position around Brutus and Luis.

"What's going on?" Ben asked over the booming.

"Battle," Luis replied.

"Then it's hero time!" Ben dialed his watch and pressed down. A flash of green and "Big Chill," Big Chill said, flying up past the trees.

He spotted what looked like a green, brown, and yellow woman flying away from a dark flying figure. Fire balls and lighting strikes were raining down on the black figure, not seeming to do much, if any, damage.

"Time to cool this down," Big Chill said, letting out a big icy breath and the two figures got close enough, both becoming enveloped in ice. As they started to fall towards the ground, the black figure broke free easily, launching back into the air and two thick branches came shooting out of the trees, shattering the ice cell of the flying woman, who quickly took chase after the figure.

As Ben was about to follow, a funnel of wind surrounded him. Two glowing gold eyes faced him and a female dressed in silver clothing and silver blue wings emerged from the wind. "Who are you? Why do you interfere?" Her voice, as soft as the wind, but commanding all at once, said.

"No time, we must help," Big Chill replied, turning invisible and pushing through the wind. He quickly scanned the sky and found the black figure wrapped in vines and branches, but was quickly breaking free. Before he was able to fly towards them, a bolt of lightning came from above, hitting him square in the chest, making him visible and sending him spiraling down.

Gwen caught him on a manna disc and was about to throw a manna disc in the direction of the lightning, when Brutus caught her arm. "Do not interfere. If help is needed, help will be asked."

Gwen sighed and Kevin, still moved to absorb the wood but Gwen stopped him. "What are you doing?" He demanded.

"We don't know what is going on here. We don't know who to fight."

"We fight the ones who smoked him."

"Fight with brains as well, Kevin, we watch."

There was a flash of green and Ben was standing there, a scorch mark on his jacket. "Oh man!" He complained, tearing his eyes back to the sky.

There was a sphere of fire and water encasing the black figure, to flying women, one dressed in dark reds and the other in light blue hues, struggling to keep the sphere together. The woman who had trapped Ben in the wing funnel and another dressed in dark purples appeared next the green woman. The woman who had Ben trapped joined hands with the green woman from before. The ground started shaking and then two half sphere's made of woven vines and dirt came flying into the sky, encasing the water and flame sphere. In a gust of wind, the sphere disappeared, along with the woman with the glowing gold eyes.

The four remaining flying woman all looked at the trees where the elves and three teens were. There was a flash of lightning, a ball of flame, a small whirlwind of water and then three of the women were right in front of them. The last one came riding on a branch. Brutus and Luis both bowed, the four women saluted, then turned their attention to the teens.

"Where is the flying blue monster that interfered?" The woman with glowing purple eyes asked.

"Hey, Big Chill isn't a monster!" Ben replied, crossing his arms. Two vines picked him up by the wrists.

"You shall speak with respect when addressing Element Masters." The woman with glowing green eyes replied.

"Dreca, lower him," the one with glowing red eyes replied. Dreca, looked back surprised.

"She's right," the one with glowing blue eyes replied. "These are humans, aren't they Brutus?"

"That is correct, Flurina. We have come to escort them to Uretha," Brutus replied.

The vines retreated and Dreca's eyes stopped glowing, yet remained completely green. The other three's eyes also stopped glowing.

"What happened to the dark figure and the other woman?" Ben demanded.

The women all looked at him, before turning back to Brutus. "As long as Spury makes it, and we are able to confine it, we have finally caught one."

"Hey, caught one of what? Who is Spury? Where did they go?" Ben asked, moving forward, not liking being ignored.

A pair of blue eyes glowed and funnel of water picked Ben up, the woman levitating into the air. "Do not question our ways, human. Do you truly feel this is the time and place to challenge us?"

Gwen pulled Ben free with a manna rope, the funnel of water disappearing as the eyes turned on her. Kevin quickly absorbed the wood from the tree and stepped in front of Gwen.

"Flurina, you know our orders," the one with red eyes called. Flurina's eyes returned to normal and the funnel of water disappeared and she took her place with the others.

"The Circle convenes at the moons highest point," the one with purple eyes replied. "Make sure the humans are there, we shall inform Queen Teria of their arrival." With a flash of flame and water and a circle of dirt, all but the purple eyed woman were gone. "Take warning, humans, fight not what you do not know. Do not charge into battle without knowledge of your enemy or the attack at hand." With a flash of lightning she was gone.

"Who were they?" Ben turned on Brutus.

"Those were the Element Masters. Forca, Flurina, Lauric, Dreca, and Spury." He replied. "Come, we have a meeting to prepare for."


	3. Cimmerian Meeting

Disclaimer: I do NOT own Ben 10 or anything related to Ben 10.

The Cimmerian Meeting

The group walked out of the forest and stood in front of a fairly large white stone city. Each building was constructed from a white stone with what looked to be gold inlay. In the center of the city was a tall building with three black spires. The walkways were lush green grass that carried no damage of foot traffic.

"This is Uretha, our home," Brutus addressed the three humans. "The king and queen reside in the palace," he indicated the tall white building with the black spires, "and Dreca comes each turn of the moon to mend our grass and any plants." Brutus looked up to the sky. "The sun will fully be set soon. We don't have long before the meeting. I have business to attend to at the palace and will inform the king and queen of your arrival. You most likely won't see them until we converge. I leave you in the hands of Luis ROWANS!" He called and the elves snapped to attention. "You are on liberty until the moon is high! Dismissed!" The elves quickly dispersed, Brutus gave a nod to the teens before heading towards the palace.

"Come, you must be hungry," Luis said as she headed down a walkway to the left.

"What was that black being back there?" Ben asked, yet again as they followed Luis through a series of walkways.

"You shall know soon enough," she replied, turning another corner.

"Can we get answers to any of our questions?" Gwen snapped, still trying to piece together why they had been transported here without any notice.

"Let me guess," Kevin cut in. "You shall know soon enough," he said in a mocking tone, rolling his eyes. Luis shot him a glare, biting her tongue.

"Come on! We were pulled here, we were forced here and now everyone is being all cryptic and Element Masters this and Element Masters that! Oh, we can't do this because of the Element Masters! We can't help fight cause of the Element Masters! What's so damn special about this Element Masters?" Ben vented. "Half my aliens in my Omnitrix can do what they can!"

Luis grabbed him and had him pinned against the side of a building in the blink of an eye. Kevin absorbed the stone and Gwen had manna discs ready. "You sure you want to go there?" Kevin asked walking forward to put himself in front of Gwen.

"You know nothing!" Luis yelled, slamming Ben against the wall before she was blinded by a green light and Big Chill appeared, turning invisible and flying up out of her reach.

"You know nothing about us," Big Chill replied. 'We do not sit back and allow an enemy to attack and possibly kill innocents. We fight."

Luis glared at Big Chill. "You think we like watching everyone get attacked and killed?" She threw back at him. "Do you think we it's easy for us finding yet another body? Or fighting these beings only to be defeated time and time again? To bury your comrades?" She shook her head before raising her eyes back to Big Chill. "How many wars have you fought in? How many comrades and soldiers or teammates have you lost due to battle?" All three remained quite. Luis let out a sigh laugh, shaking her head. "Don't you get it, this is not our first war. We've been through many. Don't you see? Strength is not the issue here. Numbers is not the issue here. The _unknown_ is the issue. You ask me questions expecting answers, but I have none to give." She sighed, lowering her head shaking it. "We have been dealing with this new enemy for four moon cycles, and the being you say today, is the only first captured alive. The Element Masters are the only ones with the right powers to keep them at bay, to be able to fight them in an efficient manner." She raised her head to look at them. "We Rowans, we fight and we fight hard, but we fight with weapons, not with powers. We hold no powers. We can defend ourselves, but it takes us far too long to defeat just one, how are we to defeat an army?"

"Can't you get the Element Masters to train you? Or have their army take the lead in the war and fight most of the battles?" Ben asked, transforming back into himself.

"Army?" She asked. "There are only five Element Masters, there cannot be more than one master per element. In order for a another master to be born, one most die. As your energy being friend, "she nodded towards Gwen, "should know, balance is extremely important for a world to successfully grow; offset the balance, your world is doomed to fail until the balance is corrected. Only the master of the element can control it. The Element Masters harness the power of their element to such extremes, that they aren't Fae's anymore, but the element itself in mortal form." She explained.

"This new enemy of ours," she continued, "we have named Cimmerians. They are extremely powerful and extremely deadly, even to the Element Masters who harness such deadly powers themselves. The Cimmerians have thrown the balance of this world off. The Element Masters are the leading experts on them, because they are the ones who fight them the most. As I've states before, you shall learn more soon, but we eat now, for we leave for the meeting soon."

Ben, Gwen, and Kevin entered a dome shaped building with four long tables and chairs in the middle of the room arranged to form a square. Runes were etched all along the circular walls letting off a golden glow. The top of the dome was open, letting the moon be fully seen in exactly the center. Floating though out the room were glowing orange orbs, softly lighting the room.

Luis indicated to a table with the omnitrix symbol etched into it. "This table is yours. Everyone will be arriving soon. It would be best if you assigned a speaker. It's been a pleasure, humans, I look forward to battling beside you in on the battle field. We part ways here." Luis bowed slightly to the three and headed to the table with crossing swords in front of tree etched into and stood behind her chair.

"I'll do the talking," Kevin said, crossing his arms across his chest.

"Really?" Gwen asked, placing her hands on her hips.

"No offense, Kev, but you aren't the best speaker in times like this," Ben pointed out.

"What was that Tennyson?" Kevin got into Ben's face and before Ben could reply, a pink force field appeared between the two boys.

"I'm sure it's safe to say that I am the best choice for this task," Gwen replied, lowering her manna. "You two really need to keep your cool here. We are dealing with this world's leaders; let's try not to offend anyone for a change." She stood behind the chair in the middle, both boys taking a chair to either side of her.

As the boys pulled out their chairs, they were pushed back in by manna. "Hey!" They both complained.

"We stand until it is time to sit," Gwen replied softly.

All three turned their heads as the doors opened. King Orote followed by the five Miners of Vast, taking their seats at the table with a pickaxe and shovel etched into it. King Jos and Queen Amil entered with Brutus and two other elves, taking their seats, along with Luis. As soon as they sat, a single Fae flew into the room, Queen Teria, took her seat at the table with wings etched into it.

As soon as she sat, there was a flash of lightning, a blast of fire, a burst of water, a gust of wind, and a flurry of leaves. The Element Masters arrival. They all took their seats next to their queen.

"First things first," Queen Amil addressed to the group, wasting no time. "A few introductions are in order. As you all can see, the humans that were foretold, have arrived. On behalf of the elves, I am Queen Amil, and this," she placed her hand on top of the man's beside her, "Is my husband, King Jos."

"On behalf of the dwarves, I am the great King Orote."

"On behalf of the Faes, I am Queen Teria. On behalf of the Elements," she gestured to women beside her, "Forca, Flurina, Lauric, Dreca, and Spury."

"On behalf of the planet Earth, Ben Tennyson, wielder of the omnitrix. Kevin Levin, an osmosian. And myself, Gwen Tennyson, an anodite," Gwen replied with slight bow taking a seat, using her manna to push the boys seats out for them to sit.

"Now on to more important issues, the Cimmerian," Queen Teria's voice rang out. "Were we able to keep the captive alive?" She asked, addressing the Element Masters.

They all turned to Spury as she rose into the air and levitated in the middle of the square. "We were," he voice whispered across the room, "but there were losses. I could not get him to converse with me, so I send for a Reader. The Reader died seconds after breaking through and creating a bond." She turned to Flurina and Lauric, who's eyes were both glowing. "Is the captive ready for transport?"

Yes," the both replied. Spury nodded and Flurina and Lauric both disappeared only to reappear in the middle of the square managing a sphere of electrified water. "We believe to have finally found a way to keep the Cimmerians detained," Flurina addressed the group. "The electrified water is the only way we have been able to successfully transport the captive. After four long moon cyc-AGH!" She was cut off as the Cimmerian shot through his spherical cell, forcing Flurina to the ground and landing a solid punch to her face before a volley of fire balls and lightning bolts rained on him, sending him crashing into one of the walls.

Ben hit his watch, "Spidermonkey!" He screeched, shooting webbing at the Cimmerian. Gwen got into a fighting stance, manna discs ready, and Kevin absorbed the stone from the ground, positioning himself in front Gwen.

The Cimmerian fixed his dark eyes on Spidermonkey, tearing free from the webbing and flying right at Spidermonkey who quickly flipped out of the way and landed a kick to the enemies back right as Kevin came charging and threw a crushing punch to his face, sending the Cimmerian crashing to the floor. "Man it feels good to hit something!" Kevin exclaimed.

"I know how you feel!" Spidermonkey screeched, spraying more webbing on the fallen enemy.

The Element Masters were in the air ready to fight, the elves had their weapons drawn, and the dwarves were calculating and preparing traps. The Cimmerian ripped free from the webbing and charged Kevin, only to be met by a wall of flame that quickly circled around him. Forca's eyes glowed a dark red as the flames grew hotter.

"Forca, we need him for information! Do NOT kill him!" Spury called to her fellow Master. Forca growled and the flames grew hotter and the circle started to get smaller around the Cimmerian. "Flurina," Spury called. "Stop her."

Slight worry crossed Flurina's face before her eyes glowed a dark blue, a massive wall of water grew behind her, throwing her arms out in front of her, the water wall quickly took over the flaming circle, leaving steam hanging heavy in the air.

"NO!" Forca screamed. "How dare you interrupt an Element!" She turned on Flurina throwing fireballs. Flurina easily extinguished them.

"You over step your bounds, Fire!" She replied.

Forca was about to attack again when the Cimmerian tried to escaped. Gwen boxed him in using her manna. He slammed his fist into the manna wall, causing cracks to quickly spread, before he locked eyes on Gwen's.

"Ugh, guys, a little help!" She yelled, feeling something trying to force its way into her head.

Kevin and Spidermonkey charged the Cimmerian as the manna box crumbled away, Gwen grabbing her head. Kevin landed another punch, sending the enemy flying, and also Gwen, who screamed out as her head hit the wall. The boys looked from Gwen to the Cimmerian. Spidermonkey wrapped the Cimmerian in a web cocoon, sticking him to the side of the wall, looking back at Gwen, she was also unable to move.

"He's formed a bond on your energy bring friend," Queen Amil said.

"The bond must be broken before your friend dies," Dreca added softly.

Kevin didn't' hesitate before throwing multiple punches at the Cimmerian. Spury quickly trapped him in a whirlwind. "What are you doing? Let me go!" He yelled. "I'm not losing her!"

"Look what you are doing!" Spury screamed at him. Kevin turned his eyes on Gwen to see bruises forming on her face and blood trickling down from minor cuts. That's when it hit him, everything that happens to the Cimmerian, happens to Gwen. Spury released him and the whirlwind died down. Spidermonkey transformed back into Ben.

"How do we break the bond without harming Gwen?" Ben asked.

Spury looked back at the Element Masters who all shook their heads. She turned the elves and dwarves who all shook their heads. Turning back to the two boys, she softly said, "We do not know. Unless the Cimmerian releases her, we know no other way."

"How do you not know?" Kevin exploded, pissed off and scared at the thought of losing Gwen.

"The enemy is still a mystery to us," Dreca replied. "It's amazing your friend even still lives. No other under it's bond has ever lasted this long. But I can tell you this, if the Cimmerian dies while the bond is in place, then your friend dies with him."


	4. The Anodite Within

The Anodite Within

AN: Thank you to hardrocker21 for leaving a review, I appreciate it.

Disclaimer: I do not own Ben 10 or anything related to Ben 10.

"Die" Kevin choked, turning to Gwen where she remained motionless up against the wall.

"There's nothing we can do for her now," King Orote spoke, motioning his Miners of Vast to assist Dreca in constructing a stone cell reinforced with dwarven runes. "She must be left to her fate. The Cimmerian War must be our main priority here."

"Agreed, the war is of utmost importance, the very survival of our world depends on the outcome," Queen Teria replied sternly.

"NO!" Kevin bellowed. "We've been pulled into this world of beings that only exist in kids' fairytales to help fight a war against a race nobody has ever heard off or knows anything about! Gwen gets caught in this guys mind bond, control, whatever the hell it is, and you want me to just walk away, fight your war, and leave her to die?" He asked in disbelief.

Queen Teria stood. "I don't know these stories of yours, but death is part of life, and this is war, some causalities are to be expected. Don't think she will be the first, nor the last. But don't let her death be in vain."

Kevin clenched his fists. "She will NOT die!" He stormed over to Gwen to gently cup her cheek. "Fight him off, Gwen," he whispered to her, "You're stronger than this." Hardening his face, he turned to Ben. "Come on Tennyson, don't you have an alien in that watch of yours that can do something?"

Ben slowly shook his head. "The only alien that could help would be Ghostfreak, but I have no control with him and we can't take the risk of letting him loose in this world."

Kevin punched the wall getting his frustration out. "Amperi. What about Amperi?"

"Amperi can only allow me to read minds. If this is a battle for mind control, only she can fight it, Kevin. Ever since Lucubra and Diagon, she's been strengthening her mental defenses. She can take care of herself, but right now we fight a war, that's what we were called here for." He glanced once more at Gwen before heading back to the group to discuss strategies.

Kevin turned back to Gwen. "You better not die on me." He ran his fingers along one of the bruises on her face before following Ben.

**In Gwen's Mind**

Images were flashing by her mind's eye to fast to focus on any of them, making it difficult for her to concentrate on anything. Gritting her teeth, she found her bearing and was able to make the images stop, finding herself standing on a rock at the lake where her grandfather used to take her and Ben. It was a place she felt safe, so she was not surprised to find this as her minds safe haven.

She could feel the pressure on her mind from the Cimmerian. He had got past her initial walls of protection and was inside her mind, it made her feel sick. Her deepest most secure place had been violated by this intruder. Her eyes glowed pink as she raised an arm, the hand also glowing pink with her manna. Scanning her mind, her power easily latched onto the intruder and with a simple thought, she appeared behind him in the middle of the park she loved playing at as a child.

Immediately getting into a fighting stance, she threw a manna disc at his back to get his attention. The manna disc shattered as soon as it made contact with his skin. Gwen's eyes narrowed as the man slowly turned to face her. She hadn't been up against too many enemies where her manna at this level had absolutely no effect.

"Get out of my mind," Gwen demanded, watching him closely for any sign of attack.

"That command is not possible; too much knowledge to be gained."

"I said GET OUT!" She raised both her hands above her head, charging a manna sphere, and sent it flying towards him. To Gwen's surprise, he managed to catch her manna sphere and send it racing back at her. She barely had enough time to roll to the side and dodge the splinters of the tree that exploded behind her.

"You are strong to have lasted this long, but I am stronger and will win in the end. Defeat, for you, is inevitable."

Gwen gritted her teeth. "You may be in my mind. You may be able to get information from me and about me, but you DO NOT know me." She jumped up and charged him, jumping in the air doing a roundhouse kick followed by an uppercut and leg sweep, all of which he blocked with lightning speed. Gwen moved to do a jab when he attacked with his own roundhouse kick, getting her right in the stomach and sending her flying a couple feet landing on her back, the wind knocked out of her.

Clenching her fists, she stood back up glaring at her opponent. Bringing her hands together in front of her, she sent a strong stream of manna down to the ground, propelling her through the air and towards the male Cimmerian. With manna behind her kick, she aimed for his head. His arm shot up, grabbed her ankle and forced her to the ground, aiming a punch for her head. She moved just in time, her eyes glowing pink as her anger grew.

Wisps of manna wound their way around the Cimmerian, the wisps that shattered were replaced by ones stronger, lifting the male off her and sent him flying into a tree. Gwen rose, her eyes glowed a dark pink with manna sparking out the sides as her anodite side started to take over, glided towards the tree as the man rose, a bit surprised.

"I told you to leave my mind!" Gwen's voice rang as both Gwen and the anodite combined.

"I was made to outlast all," the Cimmerian replied, shooting into the air.

Gwen grinned. "A chase is always fun, too bad for you, I don't have time." She whispered deadly. She levitated into the air, sending a manna tendril after the Cimmerian, wrapping around his leg and throwing him to the ground, causing many cracks to spread out from beneath him from the force. Landing next to him, she focused her glowing eyes on him. "I will give you one last chance to get out of my head!"

"You cannot hurt me." He replied. "I was made to outlast all. You can do nothing." He rose, snapping his head both ways to crack his neck and got ready to attack.

Gwen had had enough. Her body was surrounded by a bright pink light as manna tendrils appeared around her head, her skin flaking of, like it was being burned away, leaving a floating purple form that let off a soft glow. "You have no idea what I'm capable of!" At a mere thought, the Cimmerian was entrapped in manna and levitated into the air and brought face to face with the anodite in her true form. "You will get out of my head NOW!" With a massive manna ball, she hit him in the stomach, sending him flying, disappearing as the pressure was lifted from her brain, her anodite form able to be free.

**Back with Ben and Kevin**

The two teenage boys stood with the others present going over the best plan of attack.

"I say we split them up, put them where they will be of most use," Queen Amil added her opinion, "the Omnitrix wearer with the Elements; the absorber with us elves."

"First of all," Ben cut in, "we have names, want our help, use them. Second, we are a team, we work best together. Lastly, what about my cousin?"

King Jos stood. "Your friend, Gwen," he started, looking from Ben to Gwen, "is in no condition to be of assistance. There is no guarantee she will even survive her current ordeal. By all accounts, she should already be dead."

"That's enough death talk!" Kevin shouted. "She aint dying! She's strong, she'll get through this!" He glanced at her. "She'll come back to me," he added softly to himself.

"If she survives and makes it to battle, we will put her –"

"With us dwarves," King Orote cut Queen Teria off, earning him a glare from the Queen of Faes.

"There you have it," Queen Amil addressed the group. Turning to Kevin, "Your name, abosrober?"

Kevin crossed his arms, "Kevin," he replied coolly. "But you're crazy if you think I'm leaving Gwen here alone."

King Jos placed a hand on Queen Amil's shoulder, drawing her back. "You must understand, Kevin," he started as he walked forward, "she will die a warriors death, there is no greater honor. Do not disgrace her spirit by refusing to fight."

"She aint dead yet, and she aint gonna die! But believe me, if she does, and she aint, but _if_ she does, nothing will stop me from killing anything and anyone who causes her death!" He turned on his heel and started back towards Gwen.

Brutus started to follow him, when Ben stepped in front of him. "I've been dealing with Kevin for a long time now, let me talk to him." Brutus nodded as Ben chased after Kevin, stopping him.

"Get away from me Tennyson."

"We got a job to do here, Kevin."

"Screw it! This isn't our home, it isn't even our universe. Look at her, Ben; she wouldn't be fighting for her life if we weren't needed to fight a war here. There isn't even anything we can do to help her!"

"She knew the risks when she agreed to be a Plumber. She will be fine, Gwen's a fighter. But you know she would do anything to help, to make sure the job was done and that everyone was safe, even if it meant giving her life in the process." Ben paused, running his hand through his hair. "I don't like saying or doing this anymore than you, but we need to leave her here and trust that she will fight through this."

"I just don't –"he stopped as a blinding pink and purple glow took over the room, radiating from Gwen. Everyone in the room shielded their eyes until the light died down. Kevin and Ben had a good idea what happened. "She didn't."

"She did," Ben said, noticing his cousin's human skin on the floor, her anodite form levitating above it.

Manna tendrils shot out towards the trapped Cimmerian. Dreca and the dwarves dived out of the way as the tendrils shattered the stone cell and broke through the dwarven runes, to wrap around the Cimmerian and pulled him to her. "My mind is off limits!" She threw a manna ball at him right as the tendrils released him, sending him crashing to the floor.

"Her power is remarkable," Flurina said to her fellow masters as they watched the fight, prepared to jump in if need be.

'Quite," Forca agreed. "She would be most useful."

"We need to get her to calm down and fast," Kevin said to Ben as they ran to her.

"Gwen, listen to me," Ben said. "You need to stop, you need to go back to you human form."

"You'll lose your sanity, you'll lose everything about being human, Gwen," Kevin added with urgency.

Manna arrows shot out her fingers at the Cimmerian, going right through him, leaving him lifeless. The two boys looked at her with slightly widened eyes at what she had just done. Slowly she turned to face them.

"I can do so much more like this!" Her voice rang out with glee.

"But you haven't mastered these powers; now isn't the time to try," Ben replied, close to begging, knowing the danger that his cousin was in.

"No, Ben, you're wrong. You knew nothing about the omnitrix until you started using it. This is no different."

"It's completely different!" Kevin yelled. "Ben had no chance of losing who he was, you do."

"Sunny was able to do it and so can I."

The Element Masters flew forward. "If we may," Lauric addressed the two boys. "She is quite powerful in her true form and would be a huge asset to our team for this war."

"Absolutely not!" Kevin replied. "She risks losing too much by staying as an anodite."

"Kevin's right," Ben nodded. "She's a member of our team, she's a Plumber, and she has a family to get back to. There's too much of a risk."

"Warriors take risks everyday of their life. It is their job to fight and lay down their life, so that everyone else may live. That is the way of the warrior, the protector, the guardian, the plumber. Whichever name you choose to give to them, their mission remains the same," Spury replied.

"Be that as it may," Ben answered, "she needs to survive this and make it back home. To do that, she must return to her body before it gets destroyed forever."

"We weren't really asking you," Forca cut in, crossing her arms. "It's more like a proposition for Gwen. It is her power after all. Only she can choose where her fate takes her." All five of the them focused their eyes on Gwen.

"Think about this, Gwen," Kevin pleaded.

"You know what grandma said," Ben added. "You need to be trained. You saw how out of control Sunny was."

"We can easily train you," Dreca cut in. "We have full elemental power in us and have only ourselves to train us. It's no different with you."

"It's time I embrace who I am," Gwen said to the two boys.

"No, Gwen," Kevin approached her. Gwen landed in front of him as he brought her in for a hug. "I don't want to lose you."

"There's no guarantee that you even would. I can do this while maintaining my humanity. They need me."

"I need you."

Gwen pulled away. "I need to do this." She backed away slowly, summoning a shield around her and the elements, taking back to the air.

"What say you, Gwen?" Flurina asked, the elements circling around her. "Join as a Master?"

Gwen glanced down at Ben and Kevin once more. "I will join you for this war, as I am, as anodite. But I must return with my team after this war is over."

The elements smiled. "Let the training begin then! We have much to do and not much time to do it!" Spury said. The elements all disappeared in their signature way. Gwen gave a weak smile to the boys before finding the elements manna trail and disappeared in a flash of light.

Kevin hung his head, picking up Gwen's skin.

"What are you doing?" Ben asked.

"She'll need it if she can come back to me, us," he replied softly, heading for the elves.

Ben looked one last time at where his could used to be. "I hope she's right," he whispered. "I don't even want to think about how the family will react if this doesn't work the way she hopes." Turning on his heel he headed back towards Queen Teria.

"The Element Masters have chosen their new member," Queen Teria said to Ben. "You will be assisting the dwarves with prep of all traps and explosives, then join the elves on the battle ground once the first strike has been made. Stay brave, Warrior Ben, we have a long war ahead of us." She nodded her head and took her leave.

"This is where we part ways," Brutus bowed to him. "Until we meet again for battle." Ben bowed back to him.

"You better hope nothing happens to Gwen, Tennyson," Kevin threatened, falling in behind Luis, still cradling Gwen's empty body.

King Orote approached him. "Come Ben, we have much work. The time for battle is near upon us. You'll want to be fully prepared."

Ben shuffled his feet as he fell in with the dwarves. He had a very unsettling feeling. Everything had changed so fast, the only question on his mind now was if it would ever go back to the way it was. He just couldn't see that happening. Gwen was lost. Her anodite form would slowly destroy her humanity, he just couldn't see ever getting Gwen back, no matter how much he wished he was wrong.


	5. Harsh Reality

Harsh Reality

AN: Some things said about war in this chapter are not necessarily my personal opinions on the subject, just arguments that come up the most when debating the subject.

Disclaimer: I do not own anything Ben 10 or related to Ben 10.

Arrows made of fire flew towards Gwen who shot manna orbs at each one snuffing the flames. Before having a chance to launch her own attack, she was consumed by a sphere of water and pain shot through her body as lightning bolts rained down from the sky. Not being able to gain any focus, she fell, landing hard in the small clearing they were practicing in. Upon connecting with the ground, the water sphere broke and the lightning ceased.

"To master your powers, you cannot be afraid to release the full potential of what you possess," Lauric stated.

"Tis true," Flurina came into sight. "Once you know what you are capable of, you'll know how to channel it towards your one goal, rather than just harming or killing anyone and anything within its radius."

"But now," Spury cut in, "the training continues." She threw her arms up as her eyes started to glow a fierce gold. Her body and wings seemed to disappear as a fierce wind picked up; Gwen only knew where she was by her eyes. Without warning, she was hurled into the air where she was hit with sharp edged stones, sending her back towards the hard ground, when she was once again thrown back into the air by a force stream of water with shards of ice, which was quickly replaced by the shooting pain of lightning making her scream out as an immense heat swept over her as a circle of flames closed in, when a small stream of water entered the center of the orb of fire creating a suffocating steam.

Gwen's body shook with pain, her eyes squeezed tight as she fought to regain focus and control. "ENOUGH!" Her eyes shot open, sparking purple manna out the sides as her eyes narrowed, her body glowing a deep pink as she created a small shield around her, the pain still coursing through her body. With a sharp thrust of the arms, the shield burst outward, causing all elemental attacks to stop immediately. Levitating into the air, her body glowed as she absorbed all the energy from the plants around her to heal her body.

The Elements looked around them as the plants slowly died as Gwen took in their energy, glowing more brightly as more energy entered her body. Tearing their eyes away, they focused on Dreca, who's anger was quickly taking over, her eyes progressively glowing a darker green.

"On it!" Spury sped towards her fellow Master, creating a whirlwind emerging into the eye as the wind whipped around them. "Calm yourself, Dreca!" Spury placed her hands on Dreca's shoulders to lock eyes with hers, sending calming vibrations down Dreca's spine in an attempt to get her fellow Elements power under control.

Outside the whirlwind, the other three Elements were attempting to stop Gwen from siphoning the energy from the surrounding foliage. Flurina flew towards her, "You feel a power surge, yes?"

"Such great power!" She responded, never feeling this good or powerful before.

"You need to pull it back into yourself!" Flurina tried to get closer but was ensnared in a manna tendril. She formed a thin layer of ice over her body, urging the ice to spread over the tendril freezing it. With a swift kick, the tendril shattered, making Gwen narrow her eyes as she glared at the Element.

"This is what you wanted," Gwen replied, indicating herself. "This power I have, to defeat your enemies!"

"Remaining out of control, you are not only a hazard to yourself, but to your allies!" Forca flew to Flurina as Lauric levitated above Gwen, her hands sparking with electricity, waiting for the command.

"I will never harm innocents!" Gwen argued, her glow making her form barely visible.

"You're harming Dreca by killing the very core of her being!" Forca yelled, anger evident in her voice as her concern for her fellow Master took front.

Gwen glanced at the whirlwind holding Dreca and Spury in their own world and laughed, bringing her eyes back to Forca and Flurina. "You think Dreca is innocent? How many Cimmerian's has she killed?"

"Cimmerian's are our enemies, of course she has killed them, we all have, you included!" Forca's hands let off a faint flicker as she reined her power under control.

"So just because they are your enemies, it's okay to kill them?" Gwen crossed her arms. "I did what I had to do to protect myself. I will not let my mind be held by anyone but myself."

"This is war," Flurina replied, "it's kill or be killed. You hide behind your excuse of having no other choice but to kill in order to free your mind, but it was quite evident, you broke that bond without need of death, yet you did it. Every Cimmerian we have killed, we have killed to protect our race, our home, our loved ones."

"If you cannot control your power and show no wish to learn how," Forca flew forward, her hands in full blaze, "then we have a duty to extinguish your power, by any means necessary."

**With Kevin**

A wood covered Kevin was doing his third run through of an obstacle course the elves used to train. He has been put under Brutus' command and had become fast friends with Aris, a fierce fighter. Kevin turned his hand into a wooden mallet and destroyed the final dummy, skidding to a halt, looking back at the rubble left in his wake. He sent a smirk to Aris, powering down. "Beat that."

"Easy," he shot back, whipping out to slightly curved swords and made quick work of the obstacle, finishing with a swift flip, taking the replaced dummy's head off with a smooth flick of his wrist, the blade finding the weakest part of the dummy's neck. Landing softly next to a stunned Kevin, he replaced his swords. "You are a good fighter, but still have much to learn," he chuckled, patting Kevin on the shoulder.

"Yeah, whatever," Kevin crossed his arms, kicking at the ground.

Aris slightly shook his head. "Still upset about this female mate of yours?"

"Gwen," Kevin muttered. "Yeah, she's being a fool!"

Aris chuckled softly. "She's being trained to harness her power, to be a better warrior, the same thing you and I are doing with this course. Besides, she's being trained by the best. The Element Masters are not ones to take training lightly."

Kevin shook his head. "But at the cost of her humanity. It's not worth it."

Aris crossed his arms. "I must admit, you humans are most strange to me. Amongst us, we are most eager to advance in our warrior ways, we would give anything to rise in ranks as fighters; there is no greater honor. We embrace all for their abilities; we do not change our views of someone simply because they choose to hone their skills. You should embrace her, don't make her feel like she's doing something wrong."

Kevin shrugged choosing to brood in silence as they made their way back to camp. He had been made an honorary Rowan, a few accepted him, Aris being one, but the majority had shunned him, only getting on with him when Brutus was near. The Rowans took their training very seriously and undergo many different tests to challenge their battle strategies, fighting skills, leadership abilities, and combat ingenuity. Tests of which Kevin had not taken. It was an honor to the elves to be made a Rowan, an honor that many refused to bestow upon him.

Upon arrival back to camp, Kevin and Aris each grabbed a trencher. Not even thinking, Kevin just ate everything off the trencher, chasing it with a strong earthly ale like drink, he had not questioned what he was given to eat, learning from his time in the Null Void to take what you get.

Trumpets cut through the camp, signaling Brutus, a Leader of Rowans, wanted to address the warriors under his command. Rowans, including Kevin, quickly formed up in front of Brutus' tent. The trumpets ceased, leaving the camp completely silent. A tent flap whipped open, Brutus emerged along with Luis. "Our time has come!" His voice ran out. "We have been plagued with these Cimmerian beings and now is the time to relieve ourselves of these pests. The time for battle is among us!" He held his sword in the air, the Rowans roaring. "We take our Grenvie back! We keep our families safe!" He re-sheathed his sword, the warriors slowly quieting down. "Get your rest, Rowans! We ride to war at first light!" He thumped his chest, the elves doing the same as he entered his tent, Luis following.

Aris clapped Kevin on the back as the elves broke formation to return to their duties. "Looks like you will be seeing your mate soon." He winked, heading over to his bedroll.

"But will she be anything like the Gwen I know?" He asked himself, looking into the quickly darkening sky. He was leaving to fight in a war; many will die, would he be one of them? Would Ben? Worse, would Gwen? Or was Gwen already beyond saving?

**With Ben**

"Four Arms!" Ben disappeared in a flash of green light as he transformed into Four Arms. King Orote had assigned him to working with the dwarves who create explosives. The Miner of Vast Tinka had sent him out for being reckless around the witherite and magnesium veins. He was sent out to create a new testing range for their models so they could correctly calculate the amount of each component for each explosive.

Lifting a boulder, he walked it a few hundred feet away before tossing it on the ground, where it sunk a little into the ground. Heading back for another one, he grumbled to himself about the situation. He did not like not knowing what was going on with his teammates. He was worried about Gwen and mad at her for losing control and letting her anodite form take over, but he was also happy for her to be finally getting trained further with her powers. He was also concerned for Kevin, who, though he'd never admit it, had become like a brother to him. He hoped his mouth and attitude wouldn't get him into trouble. He heaved another boulder into his two upper arms, grabbing a slightly smaller boulder with his two lower arms, placing them next to the first one.

He took a seat shaking his head. "We should be out fighting these Cimmerians, coming up with plans, not testing explosives!" He jumped up getting ready for a fight when he heard a raspy chuckle.

"You really think all it takes to fight and win a battle, let alone a war, is just charging in with swords and arrows flying?"

Four Arms eyes found an older dwarf lounging against a tree almost completely hidden in the shadows. "There's not much more, you go, you fight, you kick some bad guy butt, and go home."

The dwarf stood walking into the sun. "What happens if you go in five hundred strong only to be ambushed by an army over six hundred strong? Or you charge in with no plans, no strategies, no scout reports and find yourself victim to many deadly traps?"

"I've been up against worse," Four Arms retaliated. "I've been up against thousands with only me and my teammates, maybe a few Plumbers, when I saved my universe from the High Breed invasion and from Vilgax."

"Ah, and how many of your tiny squad did you lose up against an army of thousands?"

"None," Four Arms replied slowly, afraid of where this conversation was going.

"None?" The older dwarf asked stunned. "Your squad of less than ten," he paused, receiving a nod from Four Arms, "killed thousands without losing one single fighter?"

"We never killed anyone, we stopped their plans, put them in the Null Void."

"Null Void? I know not what that is, but I assume it to be a prison?"

"Of sorts."

"But you say you never killed any of these enemies, merely delayed their plans?"

"Not delayed, stopped," Four Arms clarified.

The elder dwarf chuckled. "If these enemies of yours are in fact still alive, they are still up to their plan. Maybe rewriting a few things here and there, but the plan lives on so long as they do."

"Then they will be stopped again."

"And thus you are trapped in a vicious cycle. Tell me young human, if you have never taken life, how do you think to stop these Cimmerians who take lives daily? Certainly you don't believe this 'Null Void' of yours will suffice."

Four Arms remained quiet, earning a saddened smile from the elder dwarf. "You have much to learn young transformer, but I you have not the time to be taught. There are two types of beings on this world, those who fight and those who don't. Those who fight do what must be done to protect and serve to those of whom they have sworn. Those who don't, well, they do what must be done to care for those who are left behind. Fighters and warriors, they take lives, it's expected, why else have an army trained to do so if not to dispose of the enemy?" The dwarf retreated to his shadow, taking a seat. "You have much to learn of the ways of war. Few wars are fought and won by words alone, and I promise you, this is not one of those wars."

"How many lives must be taken?" Four Arms asked, crossing his arms.

Before the dwarf could reply, a Cimmerian appeared at the mouth of one of the mines. Without even thinking, Four Arms picked up two of the boulders and threw them at the Cimmerian. "Jet Ray!" He was enveloped in a flash of green and took to the air, letting out a laser beam toward the Cimmerian and mine, sparks flying everywhere.

"NO! You fool!" The dwarf yelled, taking cover behind a rock face as a spark hit a magnesium vein, causing multiple deadly explosions throughout the mine, the mouth collapsing in a cloud of rock and dust, taking out the Cimmerian.

Jet Ray slowly landed after the explosions stopped, powering back down into Ben. The dwarf slowly walked forward. "As many as it takes it would seem. Look how many we just lost over one Cimmerian, and they weren't even warriors. Tell me, Ben, can you handle what war brings?"

Ben fell to his knees, how could he do this?" How could take so many lives and know he was expected to take more? Could he handle war? Real war? Was he a fighter? Ben hung his head defeated, the dwarf knelt down next to him. "This is what we face, many more will die, some by your own hand," the dwarf took a long pause, paying his respects to his lose comrades, "if you fight at all."


	6. To Fight or Flight

To Fight or Flight

AN: So sorry for the delay, I'm in the army and was out in the field.

Disclaimer: I do not own anything Ben 10 related.

**With Gwen**

"Are you threatening me?" the Anodite's glowing eyes focused on Forca, sending manna orbs to both of Forca's hands, snuffing the flames.

Hotter flames consumed Forca's hands, shattering the manna orbs. "You have NO idea who you are dealing with!"

Flurina flew up next to her fellow master. "She is just a novice," she whispered, trying to get the situation under control.

"She is a hazard to all! She has no control! The power will consume her. She's a risk," she spat back.

A manna wall appeared between the two masters, forcing Flurina back, two manna spikes slightly piercing her skin on both sides of her neck right under her jaw bone, blood slowly and steadily running down her neck. "I am not done with the _Fire Master_," Gwen sarcastically called out. "Interfere again and you will see your last day."

Flurina tried moving back, only to have the spikes move deeper in. She raised her hands up to grasp them, only to have them again move slightly deeper. Calling onto her element, again, made the spikes go deeper. Defeated, her eyes stopped glowing and focused on Forca, who's eyes were glowing a very deep blood red at seeing her comrade in danger. With a sneer, she turned back to Gwen, sending a volley of flaming balls at her. "SPURY!"

Hearing the cry, Spury's concentration shattered, causing the calming vibrations to stop. Dreca broke away, shooting down to the forest to retreat into the trees and heal what damage was done. The whirlwind dying down as she saw the situation. Gwen was successfully blocking and dodging the flaming balls, Forca was getting into position to send the command and Flurina had spikes in her throat, however, she did she her eyes following Forca and could feel the vibrations in the air as she breathed.

With eyes glowing gold, Spury sent a gust of wind at the same time Forca sent a column of fire into the air, causing a flaming whirlwind rise into the air. As the flaming whirlwind burned out, Lauric sent a continuous stream of electricity down onto Gwen.

The Anodite screamed in pain as the electricity flowed through out her body. With the last bit of her energy, she sent the spikes through Flurina and fell to the ground with a slight smile as she heard the Master Element of Water scream.

Two earthen platforms rose into the air, one catching the unconscious Gwen, who still had the electricity coursing through her body, the other caught Flurina who was grasping her neck to try to stop the bleeding. Spury, Forca, and Lauric all watched Dreca as she appeared. The Earth Master looked at her fellow masters, "We have a job to do. Flo needs help, Spury, get her to a Healer, now." Spury flew to her fallen friend, grasping her as they both disappeared in a gust of wind. "Get the Anodite and lets move. If the vibrations throughout the soil are accurate, the elves have started their march on the Cimmerians. We have a war to win my fellow Master's! Let's get our Grenvie back!" Lauric flew down to Gwen, cradling her in her arms, and followed her friends towards the battleground.

**With Kevin**

Aris and Kevin, along with the rest of the Rowans, have been marching through the forest for the past day. They spent the time joking around and doing everything they could to avoid thinking of the upcoming battle. It was not easy to think of the person next to you falling, in order to make sure that didn't happen, they would practice and spar at every stop they would make. Kevin's muscles were hurting in ways they never have before. He was learning a whole new way to fight as Aris trained him with a bow and with swords. He was not used to fighting with a weapon that didn't shoot something. He was nowhere near the expertise of the Rowans, but he was getting there. He had been ordered to stay back when the initial battle started, shooting arrows from the cover of the trees. He was not to emerge until the battle hit its peak and was absolutely necessary. Kevin did not like following orders, but he was not keen on dying, he had to make sure Gwen and Ben made it back to their families and he could not do that if he was dead.

"Make camp!" The order was echoed down the lines of Rowans as they came to halt and broke to their duties. Kevin and Aris moved off into the surrounding forest to practice with bows.

"Looks like we get one last night of rest before we fight," Aris said cheerfully. This was not his first battle with the Cimmerian's and he had confidence that he would make it out of it alive, he has been training since he was young one for this, it was second nature to him.

"There's no time to rest," Kevin grumbled, notching an arrow to his bow, taking aim at a tree not too far away. "I have to get my aim right." He said as he released the arrow, he let a frustrated sigh as the arrow flew past the tree he was aiming for.

Aris chuckled softly to himself. "First, without rest, you won't be any good to us on the battle field, or perhaps more importantly, to that mate of yours. If you want her to make it back, you have to be rested enough to watch her back. Secondly," he grabbed his own bow, quickly notching an arrow, taking aim and releasing the arrow all in the same fluid motion, hitting the tree right in the middle of the trunk, "You can't think to hard when working with a bow. Once you notch, take a controlled breath in as you aim, let it out as you release, and don't stop and just stare at your target, do it quick, before your mind takes over and you second guess yourself. Try it."

"Gwen doesn't need me watching her back. She's strong enough on her own." Taking an arrow out, he did as Aris said. In one quick motion, he notched, aimed, and released, his arrow hitting next to Aris's. He sent a quick glance to Aris, before looking back at the tree.

"Do that during the battle and you won't lose so many arrows." He took his swords out. "Let's spar, you'll need this practice more once the Cimmerian's get too close for arrows." He took a fighting stance, waiting for Kevin as he readied his sword, absorbed the metal from the blade to act as his shield and got ready. "I'm not doubting your mates strength, she has to be strong to join the Element Master's," He attacked from the left, Kevin blocking, sending his own attack that Aris was quickly counter attacked, holding his blade steady at Kevin's throat. "But even the Element Master's need someone watching their back. Prepare."

"She shouldn't be with those Master's," still angered about how everything has played out thus far. "I've never seen or heard of them before. They'll get her killed!" He took up his stance. Aris attacked quickly and swiftly, faking to the right, sweeping Kevin's legs out and swinging his blade down towards his neck, holding steady.

"You can't let your emotions get in the way," Aris said, helping Kevin up. "The Element Master's are fierce warriors, and among the greatest we have ever known. It is a great honor as a warrior to fight and train with them. If your mate falls in battle, there is no greater way of dying for a warrior. We fight to protect our own, we fight so that others may be free and safe. That is our job as a warrior, an honorable job. Prepare."

"These aren't Gwen's people though," Kevin got into stance, trying to clear his mind, but he could not get Gwen out of his head. This is not where she should be. This was not who she was. "She's smart, she's a student, a good student. She's too pure to be in this situation. To be here. To fight and witness the kind of death out on that field. To see the ground turn into a bloody pit. I can't protect her from that if she's out in the middle of it!"

Aris lowered his sword. "She chose to fight. We might not be her people, but she still chose to fight with us, for us. You cannot always protect her. You speak of her strength and her talents with the mystical world, the power that flows through her veins. That's not someone who needs to be protected, that's someone who just needs to have the right person fighting besides her and watching her back. That's your job Kevin, to keep her safe in the heat of battle, not to protect her from it. Now, prepare."

Kevin sighed, trying to clear his mind again. Raising his sword, he attacked first, Aris easily counter attacking, once again stopping his blade at Kevin's throat. "Fight like you are watching your mates back." Aris instructed, getting back into position.

Kevin nodded, getting into his stance, Gwen back in his mind. He attacked first again, but quicker and more fluid as he imagined that Aris was going to attack Gwen, his Gwen, no one touched Gwen, no on hurt Gwen, and lived to tell the tale. Aris and Kevin moved fluidly along their improvised sparring arena, Aris not going all out, wanting Kevin to get a feel for battle fatigue. After a while, Aris ended the sparring session with a counter attack to Kevin's right side and following through with a back hand slash, stopping just short of Kevin's neck.

"Much better. But the sun is close to setting and we still need to make camp, let's call it a night. Get some rest and food, and tomorrow we march to battle." Aris clapped him on the back and headed back to camp, Kevin following after retrieving his arrows.

**With Ben**

Ben sat staring at the entrance to the cave, the cave that he had turned into a tomb for hundreds of dwarves by being careless and only worrying about the one threat, not who was around and who could be injured if any of his attacks strayed. He had doomed the miners, he had succeeded in killing the Cimmerian, but lost hundreds of dwarves to do it.

With a sigh, he looked down the path the older dwarf had walked down to report to King Orote of what had happened Ben couldn't bring himself to go with him. He didn't know if he could go through with this war. It was one thing when he was fighting for his own planet, but for a planet and world he never even knew existed, he just wasn't too sure anymore. He had taken so many lives in one careless act and these warriors they were to fight with, have taken hundreds of lives, it was the way they lived, they found in honor in fighting and surviving, but also in dying in battle. Their ways were not his ways, nor where they the ways of Gwen, or Kevin for that matter. Why had Professor Paradox sent them here? What was the purpose of sending them to fight this war in a world, galaxy, and perhaps even dimension, that was not even theirs?

He needed to speak with Gwen, he needed to see Kevin, this was something that they really needed to discuss and fight together, not apart like they were now. He had to find his teammates. With a nod to his silent decision, he transformed into Jet Ray and took to the sky.

Flying as fast as he could, he turned directions as he heard two screams pierce through the air. He sped towards the screams, seeing flying beings in the distant, they could only be the Element Master's . He saw two of the people fall towards the ground and he picked up his speed.

As he got closer, he noticed that the both figures had fallen onto raised platforms of earth, one of them was pink and purple, that could only be his cousin Gwen. Worry overtook him as he pulled up to stay in his position seeing them coming towards him. Once they got close enough, he yelled out to them, preparing his laser incase he needed to attack. "What happened to Gwen?"

Forca flew in front of Lauric to keep Gwen from his view as Dreca flew towards Ben. "She lost control. She attacked one of our fellow Master's with spikes through the throat. She became a threat. You should be thankful. In any other circumstance, your Gwen would have been executed immediately. Sh-"

"Executed?!" Ben interrupted. "You cannot execute her!"

"We aren't," Dreca replied calmly. "If that was to be her fate, it would have already come to pass when she attacked us during training. However, we need her in this fight, she is very powerful, and unlike us Master's, if she dies, another one does not rise to take her place. We simply rendered her abilities useless for the time being. Once we face our foes, she will be back to 100% and hopefully have her hunger for power focused on the Cimmerian's instead of us. She cannot control her power. She is not yet ready to harness such abilities and we have not the time to properly train her. She is a huge risk to all who will be at the battle, but if it ends the Cimmerian's, then it is worth the risk and the loss."

"You're going to put her out there, even though she could kill all of us because she lacks control in her abilities?!" Ben was taken aback, how could they so easily disregard the lives of their fellow warriors? "How could you so easily just throw all these lives away?

Dreca looked at him confused. "They are all warriors, they all know the dangers of fighting and of the honors in dying in battle. We have all been trained for this, this is what we are. We are a warrior people, how do you think we were able to keep peace so long in our Grenvie? How do you think peace comes about? It comes from war. You cannot have peace without warriors and fighters and soldiers who are willing to lay their life down on the battle field to achieve it. You cannot have peace with the battles of war. Some live, some die, such is the way of life and such is the way of war. How can one who claims to be the protector of an entire galaxy, not know that?"

Ben could not answer. He had fought tons of battles, but had never lost anyone in them; he has faced death, but knew it would never truly come to it. "Why can't everyone make it out alive?" He asked softly.

Dreca slowly shook her head. "You truly know nothing of what it takes to fight, do you?"

With a defeated sigh, Ben slowly shook his head.

"Then you are no help to us. Gwen here has already shown she is not afraid to kill, which makes her perfect for this war. When faced with an enemy intended to kill you, it's either kill or be killed, she will survive, she knows the cost of war, and she knows what is needed. Perhaps this Professor of Paradox, meant only to send the one with a warriors spirit and heart, and that would be Gwen."

Ben looked down at his cousin, before turning back to Dreca. "You expect me to let Gwen go and fight this war alone?"

"She wouldn't be alone; she has fierce and deadly warriors fighting right beside her."

"She's my family, I can't just leave her."

"Then perhaps you should stick to aiding the dwarves. Do not think I do not know what happened at the cave." Ben flinched a little. "I am the Master of Earth, do not forget, I feel all. You learned a tough lesson I assume. You should know the dwarves spirits are in peace in the earth. But I do not believe that witnessing what you will on the battle field, would do anything to help you. I do not believe you can handle that stress, but that is your choice. As for us, we will be continuing. I suggest you do nothing to stop us from doing so. You are out of your training abilities here." The Element Master's flew past Ben, who slowly lowered himself back to the ground. He could not let Gwen and Kevin face this alone. He had to be there. He had to do everything he could to get them home. He had to get Gwen home. She needed help with her powers, she had to keep it under control, he has to be there to help her. He must fight. Transforming into Fasttrack and heading in the direction the faes went.


End file.
